That's solid advice. I've never opened anything at an Apple store before. But that would take the stress out of getting an 11" for myself if I choose to at some point. I have a 10.5 right now, not truly needing an upgrade.
You said you opened it prior to payment though. I'm surprised that Apple let you do that.
Is it? I live in Singapore, so I am not sure if different countries have different practices. When I purchased my 5k imac last year, the sales assistant actually opened up the box and showed me the contents before I paid for it. I requested to do the same with my ipad, but I admit that was because I was admitedly a little spooked by all the bendgate news, and just wanted the peace of mind, and they acquiesced. I didn’t feel that there was anything amiss.
I acknowledge that this is not feasible for online purchases, which is why there are still some stuff I prefer to get physically from stores.
I have always physically inspected all my purchases whenever possible, either before paying for them (in the case of clothing), or before leaving the store (for stuff like fast food; I have had situations where the cashiers left out some of my orders and I have thankfully able to remedy this on the spot).
Just so it’s clear, I am in no way saying it’s acceptable to have a bent iPad, nor should anyone have to live with one. It is what it is, so should anyone here be unlucky enough to end up with one, immediate exchange or return it. My iPad Pro still looks fine, I am using it in tandem with the Smart Keyboard and Apple Pencil and enjoying it very much, and I am crossing my fingers that it stays that way.
And at the same time, I think the vitriol being aimed at Apple here is quite disproportionate, which kinda crowds out the possibility of having any sort of productive discussion whatsoever (like maybe the physics of how such a phenomenon might be possible).
Maybe this was touched on (and subsequently buried) under the weight of over 400+ responses here thus far, but any manufacturing experts care to touch on this?
